DVD drive keeps 'disappearing' and 'reappearing' at random..

I have just done a clean install of W7 RC on a Dell Inspiron 1545 and all seems well EXCEPT that the DVD drive randomly disappears from explorer and device manager, then reappears if I open or close it - any intervention really..

it doesn't seem to be a driver problem - it simply drops out and says its 'not connected', then comes back if I open or close it.

I have physically removed and re-inserted the drive and it seems it's seated Ok, any ideas please?

It worked perfectly OK to do the installation and I am not aware of any problems with it prior to me installing W7.

You could only do it from Windows or possibly DOS. Try hitting F8 after the Dell BIOS splash screen and see if you can get to the command prompt. If so leave the file for the update in the C:\ drive and see if you can execute it from the command prompt. Since that is a DOS based application it should work as stated on the Dell website.
DOS based firmware flash update for TSST TS-L633B slim 8x DVD+/-RW:-

1. Unzip the TS-L633B_D400.zip into your USB key.
2. In "Dos" folder, just type "TSDNDOS.EXE L633BD400.BIN".
3. Just wait for the firmware update completion, you should see "UPDATE SUCCESSFUL" (At this time please reboot your computer) !!

Can't get into command prompt except in Safe Mode which then can't see the drive.

In the meantime I re-installed Vista Basic which the laptop came with and the drive worked perfectly - I backed up the cdrom driver so i have a cdrom.inf and cdrom.sys file .

I then upgraded to W7 and the drive started disappearing again.. but I can't update the driver with the backed up Vista version because Windows 7 tells me the current one is the best one and I can't rename or delete the installed cdrom.sys and .inf files because apparently I need permission from TrustedInstaller.

I tried adding permissions to edit the driver folder to my Admin account but 7 won't allow it .

AAARRGH .

I then decided to install XP instead, but as soon as I get to 'Setup is starting Windows' I get a BSOD STOP.

Ok, having decided it was the firmware, I deleted the XP system and re-installed W7 .... and the problem came back.. and then the penny dropped.. I'd switched from SATA to ATA to install XP..and back again to re-install W7 sfter deleting XP.. so I switched back to ATA, re-installed and have a working DVD Drive in W7 !!

Possible fixes for Windows 7 and Windows Server 2008 updating problem. Solutions mentioned are from Microsoft themselves. I started a case with them from our Microsoft Silver Partner option to open a case and get direct support from Microsoft.
If s…

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